House Mouse Control

The house mouse is probably the most encountered of the pest rodents that invade our communities; the Norway rat is the second. That is where they get their common name from because they are often found invading residential areas. House mice are not just the frustrating nuisance, but they are known to damage and destroy all sorts of materials inside the house by gnawing at the wires, wood, and other surfaces. Furthermore, house mice eat and also contaminate the same food that people eat and are a huge health threat because they are common vectors of disease. House mice are now found all over the world including the United States.

House Mouse Control Products

House Mouse Identification

House mice are about 2.5 to 3.5 inches long from their heads to the ends of their bodies. The length of the tail is just as long as their entire body stretching about 2.75 to 4 inches long. They vary in weight but will weigh about half an ounce to 1 ounce. House mice do not have a fuzzy appearance; instead their coat of fur is very smooth. Usually they are a grayish brown color on top. Some mice are light brown on top. The colors of the bellies are light gray to a creamy white color. However, living conditions can affect the color of their fur and so most of the time the color of house mice will vary on the location of where they are invading. Their snouts are points and house mice are known to have beady, small eyes. Their ears protrude out and are large with a little bit of fur on the ears. They have short and broad feet that are usually light in color compared to the rest of their body. They have a long tail that is uniformly dark in color.

Signs of House Mouse Infestation

There are several key signs that should alert homeowners of a mouse infestation:

Droppings: The feces of rodents in the house will give homeowners an idea of what species of rodents are infesting the house. The droppings of mice are fairly rod-shaped and are about 1/8 of an inch to about 1/4 of an inch.

Runways/Rub Marks: Generally, mice will use the same paths of travels. Also, due to their poor eyesight, they will travel along the walls and use the corners where the walls meet the floor as a guide. Active runways are not covered in dust or other build up materials like cobwebs. Moreover, active trails will have signs of mice infestations because they will leave behind fresh droppings on those runways. Often times, they will also leave behind rub marks. The rub marks that are made by the mice in the house are much smaller than those that are made by rats.

Gnaw Marks: Mice are always shaping their teeth and in order to maintain the health of their teeth, they must constantly chew on surfaces. Gnaw marks can be found on the surfaces that are commonly travelled by the mice. New gnaw marks are fairly rough whereas older gnaw marks are smooth.

Footprints: It may be more difficult to find tracks or footprints that are left by mice. However, their footprints can be identified by the shape of their feet. The front foot leaves behind a 4-toed print and the hind foot will leave a 5-toed print. Newer prints are clearly distinguished whereas older prints will be less clear and hidden by dust build up.

Damaged Materials: Mice will gnaw on almost anything. They will also try to get into pantry foods. Damaged materials may consist of appliance wiring, the feet of furniture, open seed or cereal boxes, and etc.

How to Effectively Get Rid of House Mice

There are a few things that homeowners must remember for control to be effective. Effective control will be based on the habits or behavior of the mice. Most of the standard rodent control methods will work for house mice, however, consider some of the following tips when planning a house mouse control program:

Mice are social animals and can behave in a territorial manner. However, their territories are fairly small since they like to stay close to their food source. Therefore, when placing traps and bait, it is important to place them accordingly and to place them within the territory.

House mice will leave behind feces in the areas where they travel and especially where they feed. Mouse droppings are also the key in finding where there is the most activity and should be where trapping and baiting should be concentrated.

When traps, glue boards, and mouse bait stations are introduced inside and around the home, homeowners should make other active changes like moving around certain materials in the home. This should happen because mice are very inquisitive and also sensitive to their surroundings. When materials are moved around, they are more likely to explore the surroundings to create new paths of travel. This will make trapping more successful than normal.

House mice are attracted to a certain type of food and are nibbling eaters. Place a little bit of bait in small amounts on top of traps and glue boards so that you expose the traps to them. Homeowners should change foods until a preference is found. Usually, house mice will be attracted to such foods as salted peanuts, fresh pineapple, prunes, or whatever the homeowner notices that they are feeding on at the time. The same bait should be used until the feeding stops.

Water requirements for house mice will always increase when the weather temperature rises. Water baits are a great way to kill house mice when the weather is hotter. Liquid baits can be sweetened with juices that will furthermore attract the mice to the bait.

When you have a house mice infestation outdoors, keep in mind that cycles of reproduction are seasonal. Control efforts should prove to be more effective during the low periods of reproduction which is going to be between the months October and January.

Do You Have a Question about this Product? Ask Our Experts!

Sort By :

Q. How to rid house mice

I have purchase from you Contrac 200 packs.
Still have mice. They don't touch this. I have tried putting peanut butter. Put out new and change location every 3 weeks. What else can I use?

A. If peanut butter is not working for you, you may want to try Provoke Mouse Attractant that is a food grade attractant but different from peanut butter. It provides an irresistible scent to mice.

Was this helpful?

13

Votes

Q. mice in the house

What is the best products to get rid of house mice?

A.

It will really depend on several different things.

Do you have pets or children? If you have pets, will they chase after the rodents? Also, I am assuming this is indoor control, but is it indoor or outdoor control?

The safest way is to use snap traps inside bait stations or glue boards.

Poisons may lead to the mice dying inside the home will can lead to foul odors or can lead to secondary poisoning.

If you have pets and children, you will need to use bait stations to hold snap traps.

Glue boards are the safest method of treatment for house mice but it will take patience.

Was this helpful?

11

Votes

Q. mice keep getting in my attic.

Hi, I need to purchase something for some mice that keep getting in my attic. I want to put something in the attic, as well as outdoors, can you tell me what are your strongest or best products. This has been on off and on problem for the past 2 years now, with no success from pest control company. Please help. Last do you sell the keys that open those black bait station boxes that go outside?

A. First and foremost, you must check to see if there are any entry points where the mice are entering your attic from. You can seal the entry points with steel wool or copper mesh. We have great prices on copper mesh that can be stuffed into the holes or stapled in. For poisons outside, you must make sure that you are using bait stations. We have keys but it will depend on what bait station you are currently using. Indoors, poisons are not recommended because there is a chance that the mice will die indoors which leaves behind a very offensive odor. Snap traps and glue boards are the most effective inside the house. Feel free to give us a call at 1-800-788-4142.

Was this helpful?

10

Votes

Q. What do you have for mice that is not in stores.

A. We carry professional grade rodenticides that are highly effective for eradicating rodent infestations as well as bait stations to put them in to protect wildlife. If you are interested in purchasing rodenticides, please feel free to browse our site or give us a call at 1-800-788-4142.

Was this helpful?

7

Votes

Q. mouse in my house

I have mice in my house and trying to get rid of them using mouse trap. But, another one would show up again. thx

A. If you are trying to do mouse control inside, we recommend snap traps and glue boards. You must continue to place them in areas where you know that they travel. Usually, mice will travel with one of their sides against the wall and so along the base boards and in corners is where the traps are laid. You may be able to find signs of mice by looking for their fecal pellets or droppings. If you have any children or pets, we do not recommend using snap traps in areas where they can reach because it can snap on their fingers or paws and will be potentially very harmful.

Was this helpful?

3

Votes

Q. mice in house

I have a 3 family house where an occasional mouse is seen inside. There is also and are outside where mica and possibly a rat were spotted fairly regularly going back and forth between a porch step area and a fence which has a row of garbage cans in front of it. These are the large covered toter kind. I would like to use the EZ Klean Rat bait station outside (under porch), behind fence etc. I also thought of putting a some mouse bait stations inside.
I was thinking of the using the Contrac rat and mouse bait. Is this my best option. I did not see anything about outside use mentioned but it seems to be a popular option.

A. Contrac Blox are a great rodenticide to use for both rats and mice and are totally compatible with the EZ Klean Bait Stations. If you have any pets that will chase the rodents though, we do not recommend using any kind of rodenticide, since there is a delay kill effect on the rodenticides and can potentially poison your pets. We also do not recommend using rodenticides inside the house, however, for outdoor rodent control, Contrac will work well. You should definitely use the rodenticide inside a bait station though so that you can protect non-target wildlife.

Was this helpful?

3

Votes

Q. rat and mouse pink poison gel

Do you sell the pink gel poison to insert into bait stations? The green corn pellets and syringe stuff doesn't work on my mice!!! Very desperate measures are called for. I am using glue traps at the moment but the mice are in my bedroom and it is horrible.

A. Thank you for contacting us with your question.
Unfortunately we do not carry the pink gels. We only have liquid bait poison, Block poison, or place packs.

Was this helpful?

2

Votes

Q. I recently purchased the Final Paks to rid my home of mice.

The mice are not attracted to the packs and walk right away from it. Is there an expiration date on the poison because it does not seem to work at all. I am stuck with 291 packs of mice/rat poison which seem to have no effect at all. Kindly provide a solution. One totally unhappy customer.

A. For customer service, please contact us via email at info@pestmall.com or feel free to give us a call at 1-800-788-4142.